Body Above Ground, Head Above Water

At some point in these last few weeks, I discovered that I could get to my morning train just as fast by walking as by taking the subway (with its dreaded "minutes till the next train" sign). Perhaps it was that I had to mail a letter that day and I hadn't yet passed a mailbox. Perhaps it was accumulated frustration about the stress the subway arrival board created at that hour of the morning (8 minutes between subway trains can easily make you miss your other train). Whatever the reason, I somehow began to walk, not to the subway station, but directly to the train station. And it may be one of the best things that has happened to me.
 
First, it saves me not only $2.50 a day (hey, that's half a fancy coffee!) but also the wear and tear on my neck from looking up at that "minutes till the next train" sign. Second, it is replacing some very tiny portion of the gym workout I am unlikely to be able to resume any time soon. It's not the elliptical, but it IS half a mile at a pretty steady clip (well, at least some days!). And third, I get to see what's going on out there--what shops have opened and closed, what streets are the best to walk, and where the closest mailboxes are.
 
The most important piece, however, is that, for that twenty minutes--the period of time between when I leave home and when my kids start to head to school--I am reachable. Because I am not underground, I can call home if I need to remind someone of something, and my husband and kids can call me. It's a small thing, I know, yet it gives me the feeling that I am not leaving everyone completely adrift, especially on days when I race out, knowing that I haven't really covered all the bases.
 
Now, it's a somewhat tricky thing to write about something like this in a blog. After all, I may decide three days from now that my legs are too tired or the air is too thick (though I can't imagine subway air being any better!). But with so much of this blog being about discovery, this seemed like an oddly significant one. Aren't we all constantly in search of ways to make our jobs fit better with the rest of our lives? And maybe just knowing that I have put the discovery in print will help me keep it going. That and the relief in my kids' voices when I can fix a problem, not in person, but at least above ground and over the phone.